Americans Increasingly Dislike How Republican Governors Are Handling The Coronavirus Outbreak – FiveThirtyEight

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Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, governors have generally received better marks for the way theyve handled the crisis than President Trump has. However, new polling suggests that may be changing, especially for Republican governors in states where the number of coronavirus cases has spiked in recent weeks.

Gallup recently found that Americans in the 26 states governed by Republicans are souring on their leaders approach to the public health crisis, while sentiment remains steadily positive among residents of the 24 states governed by Democrats. In fact, over the past month, the share of respondents who agreed that their governor cared about the safety and health of their community fell by 8 points, from 61 percent to 53 percent, in states where a Republican is governor; opinion in Democratic-run states hovered around 65 percent, despite some movement week to week.

And on the question of how clearly governors were communicating their plans to address the coronavirus, the GOP also got low marks. Among respondents in Republican-run states, just 43 percent said their governor offered a clear plan, down from 54 percent about a month ago. Meanwhile, 58 percent of respondents in Democratic-run states said that their governor was communicating clearly, which was nearly identical to the share who said so in early June.

Gallup isnt the only pollster to find GOP leaders getting lower scores for the way theyre dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Change Researchs polling of six battleground states found especially poor numbers for Republican governors in two states where the number of coronavirus cases surged in the first half of July: Florida and Arizona. In Changes polling, 57 percent disapproved of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss handling of the outbreak, and a whopping 71 percent disapproved of Arizona Gov. Doug Duceys response. Additional polling in Arizona and Florida second these findings. OH Predictive Insights found that opinion of Duceys approach went from a net positive in June (59 percent approved, 37 percent disapproved) to a net negative in July (35 percent approved, 63 percent disapproved). Likewise, surveys by CBS News/YouGov found 53 percent of Floridians said DeSantis was doing a somewhat or very bad job and 62 percent of Arizonans said the same of Ducey.

Not every Republican governors pandemic-response ratings are underwater, however. Some, in fact, have sterling numbers. In late June, a survey from the University of New Hampshire found Gov. Chris Sununu had a 78 percent approval rating for his handling of the virus. Considering Sununu is up for reelection this November, his response could help him win another two years in office. Meanwhile, in Ohio, 77 percent of respondents in a late-June Quinnipiac University poll approved of Gov. Mike DeWines performance. And in Massachusetts, another late-June survey from Suffolk University found 81 percent approved of Gov. Charlie Bakers handling of the outbreak.

What these three governors have in common is the coronavirus hasnt been surging in their states recently as much as it has in Arizona or Florida, but that doesnt explain everything. Texass case rate has also shot up since late June, but Gov. Greg Abbott has gotten better marks than either DeSantis or Ducey. A CBS News/YouGov survey, for instance, found that public opinion was split as to how well he was handling the crisis: 50 percent said he was doing a good job and 50 percent said he was doing a bad job. And in another early-July survey from The Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler, 49 percent approved of Abbotts response while 40 percent disapproved (10 percent said they neither approved nor disapproved).

Some Democratic governors have middling approval ratings, too. Change Researchs early-July survey found, for instance, that 56 percent approved of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Everss handling of the pandemic, while 55 percent approved of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfs responses. And just 51 percent approved of North Carolina Gov. Roy Coopers efforts. Wolf got some better numbers from a Monmouth University poll released earlier this week, in which 67 percent said hed done a good job handling the coronavirus, but Cooper seems to be stuck around 50 percent. A late-June survey from East Carolina University found 53 percent approved of his response.

But on the whole, Americans have a somewhat more favorable view of the way Democratic governors have handled the pandemic than the way Republican governors are responding. In late June, a consortium of universities conducted a poll of governors handling of the coronavirus across all 50 states and found that the median approval rating for Democratic governors was about 55 percent, compared to 49 percent for Republican governors. And some Democratic executives have sky-high numbers for how theyve handled the pandemic. A late-June poll from Siena College gave New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo a 76 percent approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus, while a Garin Hart Yang Research Group survey found that 69 percent of Kentucky voters approved of Gov. Andy Beshears response.

Of course, as president, Trumps response to the coronavirus has continued to garner the most attention, but unfortunately for him, public opinion of his efforts has only worsened. About 58 percent now disapprove of his handling of the pandemic while just 38 percent approve, according to FiveThirtyEights coronavirus polling tracker.

According to FiveThirtyEights presidential approval tracker, 40.3 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 55.6 percent disapprove (a net approval rating of -15.2 points). At this time last week, 40.1 percent approved and 55.9 percent disapproved (a net approval rating of -15.8 points). One month ago, Trump had an approval rating of 40.8 percent and a disapproval rating of 55.1 percent, for a net approval rating of -14.3 points.

In our average of polls of the generic congressional ballot, Democrats currently lead by 8.3 percentage points (49.0 percent to 40.7 percent). A week ago, Democrats led Republicans by 9.0 points (49.4 percent to 40.4 percent). At this time last month, voters preferred Democrats by 7.9 points (48.5 percent to 40.6 percent).

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Americans Increasingly Dislike How Republican Governors Are Handling The Coronavirus Outbreak - FiveThirtyEight